Feed mechanism for fruit orienting and pitting machines



Feb. 28, 1950 E. w. CARROLL 2,499,266

FEED MECHANISM FOR FRUIT ORIENTING AND FITTING MACHINES Original FiledNov. 25, 1942 INVENTOR. ELLSWORTH W. CARROLL ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 28, 1950 FEED MECHANISM FOR FRUIT 7 AND PIT-TING MACHINESEllsworth. W. Carroll, Redwood City, Gallic aslignor to S & W FineFoods, Inc" San Francisco, Calm, a corporation of California Originalapplication November 23, 1942, Serial No.

466,696. Divided and this application September 10, 1946, Serial No.696,014

5 Claims. (Cl. 146-18) My invention relates to fruit orienting andpitting machines and more particularly to a feed mechanism for such amachine.

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 466,696,filed November 23, 1942, now United States Patent No. 2,413,861, forSingle stage fruit orienting and pitting machine.

Among the objects of my invention are to provide a novel and improvedfeed mechanism for a machine adapted to feed individual items thereto;to provide a novel and improvedfeed mechanism of the drum type; toprovide a novel and improved feed mechanism of the drum type for fruit,having means for periodically cleaning the apertures of crushed fruit orfruit which may be jammed therein.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent or will be specificallypointed out in the description forming a part of this specification, butI do not limit myself to the embodiment of the invention hereindescribed, as various forms may be adopted within the scope of theclaims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side view partly in elevation, an partlyin section, of one preferred form of my invention, as applied to thesingle stage fruit orienting and pitting machine of my parentapplication;

Figure 2 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation taken asindicated by the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

Referring directly to the drawings for more detailed description of myinvention, a hopper I is provided with a lower opening II whereby iruitsuch as cherries in the hopper may come in contact with the periphery ofa rotating hollow drum l2, this drum having parallel rows of fruitapertures l3 extending therethrough. Hollow drum I2 is open at one endto allow a stationary skid plate i5 to be inserted therein, this skidplate having a cylindrical surface I6 positioned adjacent the inneropenings of fruit apertures l3, this skid plate being attached to zpositionll, an arcuate extent of slightly more than 180. At the top ofdrum l2 i'sJ-positioned a brush 2i mounted on shaft 22, this brush beingrotated counterclockwise by pulley 2l in order to insure the fact thatonly one fruit is carried around the drum l2 in each aperture 12.outside the downwardly moving side of the-drum i2, a retaining plate 24is positioned, this retaining plate passing downwardly, spaced from andin concentric relation to the periphery opthe drum to terminate inoutput chutes 26. Each output chute is in line with each row ofapertures 43, and in a four line machine there will, of course, be fourrows of apertures across the-drum and four delivery chutes 25. 7

In order to insure that any broken or mashed fruit may be removed fromthe apertures' it before they are again presented to the hopper,

rotating piston gears 26 are provided having radial pistons 21 thereonentering each aperture after the aperture has passed the delivery chute.Each rotating piston gear is mounted son an arm 28 extended from skidplate It, and is rotated by engagement of the piston 21 in apertures Was the drum rotates. As each piston 21 enters an aperture it fully itclosely approaches a stationary scraper bar 36 positioned at thebottomof the drum l2 so that all material; pushed out of the aperturesby thepi'stonswill be scraped from the end of the pistons. onemistongear 261s provided for each row of apertures.

side bracket l'l which also supports shaft 18 on which drum I2 ismounted. The other end of shaft I8 is mounted on opposite side bracketi6 and is rotated in a clockwise direction by pulley 9. Skid platesurface it is positioned beneath the apertures l3 from a line adjacentthe Side bracket ll and opposite side ,jbra'cket it which support shaftIE on which drum I2 rotates, are attached to a gear box 35 forming themain body of the' device and containing the various synchronized gears,cams, etc., to operate the machine, such mechanical arrangements beingwell known in the art and, therefore, neither shown nor described. Gearbox 35 is supported on legs" 36 to raise the machine suiileiently oilthe floor to allow proper discharge of the fruit. Gear box 35 isenergized by 'a la'rge pulley l9 driving through a power shaft 31. Mainpulley I6 is driven in an convenient manner, such as by a motor 38' andbelt l0.

Immediately below the outlet of each of the chutes 25 is positioned ahorizontal fence bar 4|. This fence bar in the machine of my parentapplication, has therein a" plurality of fruit relower edge 20 of hopperl6 around to a discharge so taining apertures, one of these aperturesbeing positioned immediately below the outlet opening 43 of each chute,so that as the cherries roll down the chute, if the bar 4| is in properposition, they roll into such apertures. Bar 4| in the machine of myparent application, constitutes part of fruit orientation mechanism, butmay broadly be receptacles for any desired purpose, and is normallymaintained in level position by bar-actuating side arms 45 operated fromwithin the gear box, these arms being capable of raising bar 4| upwardlyto block the outlet openings 43 of the chutes 25 as shown by the brokenline position 46 in Figure 1.

Having above described the construction of my machine, I will nextdescribe the operation of this particular modification. Fruit such ascherries are fed in bulk into hopper Ill and fall into apertures I3 indrum I2 and are carried around in a clockwise direction until they meetbrush 2| which is rotating in a counter-clockwise direction. Brush 2| isadjusted to brush off all extra fruit so that only one fruit is in eachaperture 13. The fruit is then carried around the drum until it reachesa position adjacent the output chutes 25. As the fruit is dischargedfrom the drum into output chutes, the gearing in the gear box is ad-Justed so that the fence bar is in upper position 46, thus holding thefruit at the end of the chute. Thus, I do not depend for timing on thefruit rolling down through chute 25 or on any accurate release of thefruit from apertures l3. Consequently, drum l2 may be continuouslyrotated.

At a certain time, as predetermined by the ma-- chinery within the gearbox 35, the fence bar 4| lowers to horizontal position and the fruitheld in the chutes 25 drops into the fence apertures.

While I have illustrated and described one specific embodiment of myinvention in considerable detail, the same is subject to modificationand alteration without departing from the underlying principles of theinvention, and 1, accordingly, do not desire to be limited in myprotection to such specific details except as may be necessitated by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. Feed mechanism for a machine, comprising a rotatable feed drum havinga plurality of peripheral rows of apertures therein to receive items tobe fed to such machine from above, a skid plate positioned adjacent theperiphery of said drum holding said items in said apertures as saidperiphery moves downwardly, and terminating beneath said.drum, a chutepositioned to receive items falling by gravity from said apertures afterrelease therefrom by termination of said skid plate, and a rotatablewheel positioned inside said drum in line with each peripheral row ofsaid apertures, each said wheel including a plurality of radiallyextending pistons spaced to enter successive apertures of an'associatedrow in response to rotation of said drum, each of said pistons having alength sufficient to reach the outer surface of said drum, and a scraperdisposed adjacent the periphery of said drum at a location where thepistons reach the outer surface thereof, said location being on saidperiphery after said apertures clear said chute, and

nating beneath said drum, a chute positioned to receive items falling bygravity from said apertures after release therefrom by termination ofsaid skid plate, a rotatable wheel positioned inside said drum in linewith said peripheral row of apertures, said wheel including a pluralityof radially extending pistons spaced to enter successive apertures ofsaid row as said drum is rotated, each of said pistons having a lengthsufficient to reach the outer surface of said drum, said pistons beingtimed to reach the outer surface of said drum after release of saiditems from said apertures, and a scraper disposed closely adjacent theouter surface of said drum at the location where the pistons reach theouter surface thereof.

3. Feed mechanism for a machine, comprising a rotatable feed drum havinga plurality of peripheral rows of apertures therein of a crosssection toreceive single items to be fed to such machine from above, a skid platepositioned adjacent the periphery of said drum holding said items insaid apertures as said periphery moves downwardly, and terminatingbeneath said drum, a chute positioned to receive items falling bygravity from said apertures after release therefrom by termination ofsaid skid plate, a rotatable wheel positioned inside said drum in linewith each peripheral row of said apertures, each such wheel including aplurality of radially extending pistons spaced to enter successiveapertures of an associated row as said drum is rotated, each of saidpistons having a length suflicient to reach the outer surface of saiddrum, said pistons being timed to reach the outer surface of said drumafter release of said items from said apertures, and a scraper disposedclosely adjacent the outer surface of said drum at the location wherethe pistons reach the outer surface thereof.

4. Feed mechanism for a machine, comprising a rotatable feed drum havinga plurality of peripheral rows of apertures therein of a crosssection toreceive single items to be fed to such machine, a source of supply ofsuch items adjacent said drum, a discharge chute adjacent said drum ateach row of apertures and at a location permitting gravity discharge ofitems from said apertures into said chutes, means for holding said itemsin said apertures until such occupied apertures reach such location ofdischarge, and a rotatable wheel positioned inside said drum in linewith each peripheral row of said apertures, each such wheel including aplurality of radially extending pistons spaced to enter andsubstanbefore said apertures are re-fed with said items.

tlally flll successive apertures of an associated row as said drum isrotated, each of said pistons having a length sufficient to reach theouter surface of said drum, and positioned to reach said outer surfaceat a point beyond the discharge points of said items, and a scraperpositioned adjacent the periphery of said drum at that point to removeitem parts cleared from said apertures bysaid pistons.

5. In combination, a rotatable drum having a plurality of peripheralapertures therein, means for loading items into said apertures on thetop of said drum, means for holding items in said apertures as said drumis rotated downwardly, said latter means terminating below said drum torelease items in said apertures for gravity discharge therefrom, meansfor receiving discharged items, a wheel positioned within said drum andhaving a plurality of radially extending arms serially enterable intosaid apertures as said drum revolves and extending to the peripheralsurface of said drum in said apertures at a point beyond REFERENCESCITED the discharge point said items' said arms The following referencesare of record in the ing an outer surface thereon shaped to substanme ofthis patent:

tlally fit said aperture when at the periphery of said drum, and astationary scraper positioned 9 UNITED STATES PATENTS to closelyapproach said surface and said perlph- Number Name Date cry when saidarm surface is at the periphery 1,024,564 Foote g of said drum to removeitem fragments from ghompsm g said arm surface cleared from saidaperture by 10 owson Fe 1 9 1,726,719 Schau Sept. 3, 1929 Passage ofsaid surface therethrough. 2,152,107 Thompson Man 28' 193% 2,169,353Carroll Aug. 15, 1939 mwon'm Cmom- 2,271,675 Ashiock, Jr. Feb. 3, 194a

